6.  The applicant was born in 1968 and lives in Malta.
7.  In 2003 the applicant was charged with having, in December 2001, been in possession of illegal drugs (953 pills of Ecstasy) not for his exclusive use (Chapter 31 of the Laws of Malta).
8.  On an unspecified date the prosecutor decided to try the applicant in the Criminal Court in accordance with section 120A (2) (a) (i) of the Medical and Kindred Professions Ordinance.
9.  By a judgment of 16 November 2005 the Criminal Court, following a trial by jury, found the applicant guilty (by a verdict of eight to one) and sentenced him to fifteen years’ imprisonment, a fine of 15,000 Maltese liras (MTL) (approximately 35,000 euros (EUR)) with twelve months’ imprisonment in default, and the payment of costs and expenses. The court also ordered the confiscation of his assets.
10.  On 24 April 2008 the Court of Criminal Appeal confirmed the Criminal Court’s judgment.
11.  On 18 February 2009 the applicant brought constitutional redress proceedings complaining, inter alia, that the discretion of the public prosecutor to decide in which court to try an accused ran counter to the impartiality requirement of Article 6 of the Convention.
12.  On 14 July 2009 the Civil Court (First Hall) rejected this complaint. It referred to a previous finding by the Constitutional Court in the case of Ellul v Attorney General, in which it had held that the discretionary power exercised by the public prosecutor (in respect of section 22 of the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance – a provision similar to that of section 120 A under consideration in the present case) did not prevent an individual from being given a fair trial in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention, and it therefore adopted the same reasoning. The court further pointed out that unlike in the case of Huber v. Switzerland (23 October 1990, Series A no. 188), the Attorney General (in his role as public prosecutor) in Malta did not investigate the circumstances of the crime and did not have the power to issue detention orders.
13.  On 31 July 2009 the applicant appealed to the Constitutional Court.
14.  By a judgment of 12 February 2010, the Constitutional Court confirmed the Civil Court’s judgment. It held that there was no doubt that the applicant had been tried before an impartial tribunal established by law and that the trial had been fair. The fact that the Attorney General (in his role as public prosecutor) could choose the forum in which to try the accused did not give him the powers of a judge in that instance. In essence the public prosecutor had no control over the finding of guilt or innocence of an individual. The situation would have been different had the public prosecutor been involved in the determination of an individual’s guilt. In reference to domestic jurisprudence, it added that the means by which a case was brought before a court could not impair its independence. In so far as an individual was aware of the minimum and maximum punishments established by law at the time when the crime was committed, there could be no violation of Articles 6 or 7 of the Convention. Moreover, the applicant had not shown in what way this decision had affected him. Nevertheless, noting that the Attorney General (in his role as public prosecutor) exercised his own discretion in choosing the appropriate forum also according to the seriousness of the crime, the Constitutional Court considered that it would be desirable, for the sake of fairness and transparency, that criteria to be used by the public prosecutor should be established.